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Developing Melody Lines With Motifs

The document discusses developing motifs in musical composition. It explains that a motif can be a short musical idea that is developed into a full work through repetition, variation, and combination with other elements. Unity is achieved through exact repetition while variety uses contrasting or altered motifs. Motifs can be developed by repeating or varying their melody, rhythm, harmony, or other elements. Approximate repetitions include retaining a motif's contour, selected notes, transposition, or tonal transposition. Examples from "La Cucaracha" and "Autumn Leaves" illustrate these techniques. Exercises propose ways to add tension, such as extending or changing phrases, and developing original motifs.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
219 views3 pages

Developing Melody Lines With Motifs

The document discusses developing motifs in musical composition. It explains that a motif can be a short musical idea that is developed into a full work through repetition, variation, and combination with other elements. Unity is achieved through exact repetition while variety uses contrasting or altered motifs. Motifs can be developed by repeating or varying their melody, rhythm, harmony, or other elements. Approximate repetitions include retaining a motif's contour, selected notes, transposition, or tonal transposition. Examples from "La Cucaracha" and "Autumn Leaves" illustrate these techniques. Exercises propose ways to add tension, such as extending or changing phrases, and developing original motifs.
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Developing Melody Lines with Motifs

Very often, a large part of composition involves expanding a very short


simple idea into an entire work. A motif may be just a few notes, but
careful development can make a little go a long way. Development may be
achieved by thinking about unity and variety. If the motif is repeated that
is unity. If a contrasting motif follows (An answer) that is variety.
There are several stages in between if a motif is repeated but with varying
degrees of changes. Using the different musical elements (e.g. melody,
rhythm, harmony, timbre and dynamics) there are many possibilities of
creating logical development. You can use combinations of exact or
approximate repetition of different elements. In composition (as opposed to
arranging and orchestration), it makes more sense to start with just the
three main elements (melody, rhythm and harmony). It is useful to
combine repetition of one element with variations of one or more of
another:

Repetition of: Variation of:


Melody Rhythm and/or harmony
Rhythm Melody and/or harmony
Harmony Melody and/or rhythm

In addition, you can use approximate repetition, especially of melody. This


is often necessary, if the harmony is changing and can be done by:
1. Repetition of the main contour of melody (shape)
2. Repetition of selected notes of the melody (essential pitches)
3. Repetition of melody at different pitch (exact transposition)
4. Repetition of melody using same intervals on different scale degree (tonal
transposition or sequence)

Examples:

In La Cucaracha the opening motif is firstly repeated then followed by an


answer (motif 2). Motif 1 then appears again slightly altered to fit the harmony (motif
1a), but the main contour of the melody is retained. This is then repeated (unity – it
follows the same method as the opening statement) and is then followed by another
answer (motif 2a) which combines unity and variety. Unity is achieved by using the
same rhythm as motif 2 but with different notes and intervals. There is already
tension at this point due to the V7 chord. As the opening 4 bar phrase has a cadence
from I to V7 on bar 4, we expect (and receive) the second 4 bar phrase to cadence at
the same point. This is unity that is totally appropriate to a folk dance tune.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Autumn Leaves, the opening 4-note motif is repeated in sequence with
almost exactly the same rhythm, one-step lower each time. This is not
an exact transposition, it is a tonal transposition. The first three notes of the opening
motif are the first, second and third degrees of G minor, so the third degree is  minor.
The first three notes of the sequenced repeat of this motif are the first, second and
third degrees of F mixolydian (the scale that corresponds to F7) so the third is major.
This 8 bar A section is repeated, so that the rhythmic repetition of the motif
builds tension which is released at the first bar of the B section.

Exercise:
1. Using the 8 bar La Cucaracha extract, add more tension at the final
cadence by extending the second phrase (e.g. delay the perfect cadence by
one bar).
2. Add even more tension by adding a bar at this point with a different time
signature.
3. Add more tension by using more sophisticated harmony.

You will probably find that:


It makes the tune more interesting. The sort of thing you might use if arranging
or composing a jazz piece but with folk influences, but that destroys the folk feel,
and though still valid as an art composition, remove it from the realms of
commercial composition.
Exercise:
1. Take an existing piece of music and develop the opening motif in different
ways.
2. Take a well-known existing piece of music and develop the opening motif
with an answering motif.
Replace the opening motif of (b) with an original motif so that the answer still
makes sense.
https://tamingthesaxophone.com/composition-motif

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